Gold falls on upbeat US manufacturing data

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange kept falling Wednesday on upbeat manufacturing data from the United States. The most active gold contract for February delivery lost 7.1 dollars, or 0.57 percent, to settle at 1,238.3 dollars per ounce. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday that its " Empire State" general business conditions index jumped to 12.5 in January from a revised 2.2 in December, much bigger than expected. The U.S. Labor Department also reported Wednesday that the producer price index increased 0.4 percent in December, the biggest gain since June. The greenback's going strong Wednesday also exerted pressure on gold. Shortly after gold trading on COMEX closed, the Federal Reserve reported that the U.S. economy is continuing to grow at a moderate pace and the economic outlook is positive, which is an assessment that may allow the central bank to continue its pace of withdrawal from the stimulus policies. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said Wednesday he expected the unemployment rate to fall to 6 percent or lower by the end of 2015. Investment banks were also downbeat about gold. The UBS, a Swiss global financial services company, forecast that gold prices could fall 15 percent this year and keep its 2014 gold price target unchanged at 1,200 U.S. dollars, while big investment banks ' consensus forecast said gold prices may decrease 14.5 percent this year from that of last year. Silver for March delivery lost 14.8 cents, or 0.73 percent, to close at 20.134 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery dropped 5.2 dollars, or 0.36 percent, to close at 1,428.6 dollars per ounce.